A gold, silver-gilt, enamel, ivory and tortoiseshell singing bird box, Geneva, circa 1840, in the manner of Frères Rochat,

rectangular, the lid centred with an oval enamel plaque representing a classical villa by a lake with a Swiss mountainscape against pink and blue skies in the distance, within chased scrollwork border, opening to reveal a colourful hummingbird-feathered singing bird with an ivory beak, emerging from a engraved grille with scalloped edges, the interior of the oval plaque enamelled with a floral bouquet against a turquoise-coloured ground, the reverse of the plain tortoiseshell case fitted with a key compartment with a slightly raised thumbpiece, containing the later metal winder, the front side set with a rectangular silver-gilt lever engraved with foliage, the movement struck four times: 2089, otherwise unmarked, in the original tooled leather case lined in crimson velvet and silk,



9.5cm., 3 3/4 in. wide